European Solar Thermal Industry Federation

Parliament and Energy Council debate EU Clean Energy package

Date: 31 Mar 2017
Category: Solar Heat News

At the Energy Council of 27 February 2017, Energy Ministers of the EU member states gave their first reactions on the Commission’s extensive “Clean Energy for All Europeans” legislative package. The package includes most notably the revision of the RES Directive, energy efficiency and new governance rules.

Prior to the meeting of the Council, ESTIF, together with other sectorial organisations, had sent a letter expressing concerns over the lack of ambition in the package, especially for renewable heating and cooling. The solar thermal sector called on the EU co-legislators to put in place policies providing certainty and confidence to investors. For instance, Article 23 of the proposal for a revised Renewable Energy Directive sets a framework for renewable heating growth. However, to keep at least the same level of development as in the previous decade, EU institutions should make the article binding and more ambitious than the Commission’s initial proposal.

Meanwhile, in its March meeting, EU Parliament ITRE Committee started the debate on the core elements of the package. Positions are still fluid, as the groups are still forming their positions, and receiving inputs from stakeholders. Anyway, the majority of the groups (S&D, ALDE, GREENS, GUE) already asked for more ambition, while EPP and ECR are already calling for more flexibility and subsidiarity. In this context, ESTIF, in coordination with other sectorial associations, is progressively meeting with the main Rapporteurs, shadows, and key Members of the Parliament, in order to disseminate our position (see letter to Ministers), influence the Reports, and prepare the background for the amendments phase.

To access ESTIF-EGEC-AEBIOM letter to Energy Ministers, please click here.

To access the Commission webpage on the package, please click here.

To access the Council webpage on the Energy Council meeting, please click here.

For more information, contact members(at)estif.org.

 

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